The Christian Science Monitor offers a list of fifteen books on the American Revolution for your Fourth of July reading pleasure. It’s not a bad list, although I think my personal picks would only include a couple of their selections.

Let me stress that my list isn’t a balanced representation of the historiography, not by any means. If somebody grabbed me by the shirt collar and asked me for fifteen books that would give them a pretty good overview of the Revolution, that list would look quite different from this one. I’m not aiming for complete coverage. These are just my personal faves.

Here they are, in no particular order.

Washington’s Crossing by David Hackett Fischer. When Clio goes about sprinkling her magic fairy dust, she bestows a more generous dose on some historians than others. She poured a tenfold measure on Fischer.

Paul Revere’s Ridealso by David Hackett Fischer. Another examination of a Revolutionary event in which Fischer uses the technique of “braided narrative” to reconstruct an important event, unpack all its implications, and present it in the form of an engrossing story.

The Radicalism of the American Revolution also by Gordon Wood. The Revolution changed the pre-modern world into the modern one. Wood explains how and why, and he does it in prose so crystal clear that it’s easy to forget what intellectual heft this book has.

His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph Ellis. There are a lot of books on Washington, but I admire the way Ellis captures his essence in this concise portrait. It’s not a cradle-to-grave treatment, but it’s more effective than just about any book out there if you want to get your head around the man and his significance. Same goes for Ellis’s Jefferson book.

As I said, my list leaves out a lot of important authors and topics, while other subjects are overrepresented. A comprehensive Revolutionary reading list should also include Alfred Young, T.H. Breen, Gary Nash, Linda Kerber, Rhys Isaac, and Mary Beth Norton. Likewise, it should have more thorough coverage of the shift from Confederation to Constitution, include biographies of additional key players, and make some space for the important campaigns in the North—to say nothing of the Revolution’s impact on women, slaves, Indians, tenants, and the urban underclass.

But those are the fifteen Am Rev books I’ve read and re-read with the most pleasure and awe. Feel free to share your own picks in the comments.